


The Art of Conversation

by auroraXborealis



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Awkwardness, Country Boys, Flannel Shirts, M/M, Small Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25449247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auroraXborealis/pseuds/auroraXborealis
Summary: Yugi has lived in Senet Township all his life.Atem was a recent addition to the town for the past few years.Through awkward exchanges, they get to discover the little things about each other and probably more.Filled with warmth, autumn vibes, flannel shirts, and songs.Part of my works for PuzzleJune 2020
Relationships: Atem/Mutou Yuugi
Comments: 29
Kudos: 51





	The Art of Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> To be completely honest, this was SUPPOSED to be a part of PuzzleJune 2020, for the word prompt Heaven. It still is though, but I felt that this story needed its own space.  
> I fell in love as I was writing it and it is filled with so much that I wanted to be fair to it!
> 
> Both songs in this fic are by Jon Bryant, a canadian singer/songwriter. Links to them are at the end, and I strongly suggest you listen to at least Headphones, which was the inspiration for this whole fic!
> 
> So without further ado, I give you The Art of Conversation.
> 
> Love, Aurora

**The Art of Conversation**

It was Friday again.

Yugi’s favourite evening.

And he would not miss his shift for anything in the world.

Hell, he even requested to his boss that he worked every Friday.

Because that voice and those words softly sung were almost everything to him.

And the man behind them was even more.

***

Senet Township was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a small country village, and like all other small country villages, most of the people living in it were downright friendly with everyone. It was not necessarily small as in the “everyone knows your name” type of place, but chances were some people would recognize you if you always went to the same spots in town. The main street had a corner market, a hardware store, a garage, a breakfast and lunch joint and a few other shops mostly filled with utilities and homemade goods.

Most of the streets were lined with brick front buildings, and the occasional tree here and there to make it look greener than it actually was, being situated in a pretty rural area, surrounded by fields of wheat and corn. Some bigger houses were scattered around, almost secluded from the rest of the town, and not too far away was a very popular hang-out spot around a lake that was hidden from the rest of the world in a small creak.

Yugi had lived in Senet all his life.

It was not much, but it was home.

When it was time to decide whether he wanted to go to college or stay, he stayed and took up a job at Valentine’s, the local pub and bar where he had now been working steadily for the past 5 years. He signed up for online classes instead, studying communication and media, helping out most locals create websites for their business and running the bar’s social media aspects, as well as helping the owner, Mai, establish a few thematic events and nights. They had trivia nights with friendly competition, as well as game nights where they had ask everyone to donate board games to the pub and they would lay them out for everyone to enjoy. They even had an open-mic night where anyone who wanted could come and show their talent.

Open-mic night was pretty unpopular at first, so Yugi had worked his magic and manage to have a few people from other towns around to fill in for a few nights, and people started really getting into it. They had begun to steadily get artists coming in and it had become somewhat of a staple known to other towns around as well. A few of the town’s artists tried their hands at it, some came back and others did not, but that was no surprise. What surprised Yugi was when Mai suddenly came up to him and said they had a new addition to Friday’s set list.

“Wait, can you repeat that?” he asked his boss, pen stilled over paper.

“I said: Add Atem Sennen to the set list for Friday,” Mai repeated as she lined up clean glasses on racks behind them.

Yugi turned around to face her way and leaned on the counter. “I know what you said, I’m just…”

“Flabbergasted?” she supplied. “Yeah, I got that too.”

The tricoloured man taped his pen against his fingers, pondering. “How did that happen?”

Mai also angled her body to face her employee and crossed her arms. “He just walked in and asked for a spot. To the point, as always.”

Yugi nodded at her answer. “Huh. Well, can’t say I’m not excited about that new addition.”

And he faced back his paper and added Atem Sennen’s name to the short list.

***

Yugi had been working for Mai for a little bit over a year when Atem arrived in town. He was a cousin of the Ishtar’s, a well-established family in Senet that owned an import-export store along a small art gallery. He came into town alone, renting an apartment instead of choosing to share living quarters with his cousins, and took up a job that the hardware store.

At first, Atem was the biggest mystery around town, but people eventually were almost disappointed to find out that there was nothing mysterious about a guy who had moved around a lot because of his father’s job and that had finally decided to come to a quieter place because he just preferred it that way. The Ishtar’s had supplied answers to his past when asked because there was nothing extraordinary about it. Atem had gone to college, had tried his hand at it, and after a few months of experiencing different things, he decided a break from big cities would do him some good.

Atem was a pretty quiet person as it is. He would most often keep to himself, hang out with the Ishtar’s on occasions, and he was a very polite man. Yugi had seen him help out around town, being the very handy man that he was, always there when needed, but also always more on the sidelines than center stage.

But in those last four years, Yugi had discovered something as relevant as endearing about him: Atem had to be one of the most socially awkward man to ever set foot in Senet.

So, that Friday, when Atem arrived in the pub, guitar case on his back, Yugi could not help but do a double-take, for he was still half-certain that Atem’s addition to the set list had been a fluke. He was standing in the entrance, hands in the pocket of his leather jacket, glancing around, before he walked straight to the bar where Yugi was filling his tray with drinks and snacks.

“Hi,” he simply said. “I’m here for the open-mic night. I’m Atem.”

Yugi stopped what he was doing and smiled brightly, as he always did. “I know who you are. And you can go set up your stuff next to the stage if you want.”

“Alright,” the other answered and immediately took a few steps towards the stage.

“Wait!” Yugi called back. “I’m Yugi, by the way.”

The other turned around, no apparent emotion on his face. “I know,” he replied, then walked away.

Yugi was left with surprise once more from this short interaction and he could only chuckle as he watched the other talking to the hired technician they had found for these evenings. He went back to his task and delivered the various things on his tray to the patrons waiting for them around the pub.

He did not pay any more attention to Atem until it was actually his turn on stage that evening. He was the third and last singer of the evening. There was nothing else but a mic and a stool, everything else had been removed from previous artists. He plugged his wooden acoustic guitar casually and sat down on the stool, sounding a few strings almost too quietly. He did not even say anything as an introduction; he just started playing a soulful melody, took a deep breath and sang.

And Yugi literally stopped breathing for a few seconds.

There, perched on a simple metal stool, guitar cradled in bronze hands, draped in a flannel shirt, a pair of jeans and hair swept by antigravity, Atem let his voice cut through any other sound, as clear and bright as a ray of sunlight.

_I heard the wind today tellin' me to go_

_I felt the train depart to take me from a coast_

_I watched my city sleep_

_Like a restless soul with nowhere else to go_

***

That night, Atem left right after his set.

Yugi did not even have time to fully register what had just transpired, just that it had felt like a transcending experience.

And the next morning, Atem had called to request a spot for another Friday in two weeks.

***

“He sure was something.”

Yugi was tying on a laptop that he set at the bar, next to a light lunch and a beer. “Who are you talking about?”

“You know who I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb with me,” Mai replied.

Yugi snickered. Of course, he knew. And now, a lot of other people around town knew too. Word got out really really quickly after last Friday.

“Yeah, he was. Who would have thought, huh?” he answered while checking a few facts between his notes and what he had already typed in.

He heard Mai shuffle around with the alcohol bottles, making sure to put them back in their right place for tonight.

“No one, and I mean, no one. He never even mentioned he was into music,” she casually said.

This time, Yugi paused on what he was doing and climbed down his stool, grabbing his now empty plate and moving it to the sink caved in the counter behind the bar. “Truth be told, have you ever heard him mention anything about himself, really?”

Mai laughed and agreed, before taking a bite of her own sandwich. “Man, for someone so cute, that guy sure is strange.”

Her co-worker chuckled lightly and took the last sip from his beer. “I don’t think of him as strange, just, you know, different. I don’t know if I would call him shy, just not the most social creature out there.”

“You’re just your usual bundle of positivity about this, that’s how I see it,” Mai let out before leaving for the kitchen area as she always did around that time to make sure everyone and everything would be ready for their shift.

Yugi reflected upon that last comment while cleaning up his glass and setting in back with the others. This was not the first time someone had commented on his upbeat personality. He did not mind it at all, it was not like he forced himself to act and be like that, he just liked to enjoy life to the fullest and share that cheerfulness with everyone. He had been called the cinnamon roll of this town more times than he could remember, and he appreciated living up to that expectation.

“Shit!” Mai voiced shouted from the kitchen as the sound of gushing water filled the air.

Yugi ran into the backroom and almost slipped on a puddle of water that had formed on the floor. He watched as Mai reached over a large basin sink and turned off the faucet, stopping the spurting water that had already splashed all over her. They both looked at each other as the cooks just stared at the mess that had just happened in their kitchen. Yugi tried hard not to laugh at the fact that Mai’s wet hair clung to her face not very elegantly, and that her clothes were almost see-through at some places. He could see her fists tightening in annoyance before she glared at him.

“This needs to get repaired, like pronto! So while I’m going to go get changed, you deal with it if you find it so funny!”

So Yugi headed to the hardware store in need of plumbing pieces… and quite probably a plumber.

***

The bell dinged above the door, but Yugi found himself completely and utterly alone in the store as no one seemed to be around to help him.

“Hello?” he called out.

His ears picked up on some shuffling down an aisle and he headed that way. A hair of spiked hair peeked up from around the shelves to make its presence known and then disappeared from his view. Whe he rounded the end of the aisle, he spotted Atem kneeling in front of the display, refilling the empty spots with various boxes or nails and screws.

“Hey you!” Yugi greeted.

The clerk stood up and brushed the dust of his hands on his blue apron. “How can I help you today?”

That was how it always seemed to be with Atem, no introduction, just straight to the point. “We kind of have an emergency at the pub. There seems to be something wrong with the plumbing from one of our kitchen sink, and honestly, I don’t know where to go from there,” the smiling boy explained.

Atem walked over to a different aisle and picked up a few things that seemed completely random to the other. He then walked to the backroom of the store without a word and left Yugi to wait there, not quite sure where to put himself. It only took about a minute or two before he came back into the front of the store, without his apron, but with a large bag of tools in his hands as well as a paper bag filled with the pieces he had just picked up in the aisle.

“Come on. Let’s go,” he said motioning for Yugi to exit the store.

They both walked out and Atem locked behind them, picking up the pace and heading down the street.

“Oh, just like that?” Yugi pondered aloud.

And Atem turned around, his lips twitching but not quite smiling. Yugi paused in his walk, genuinely surprised by that almost smile. The other then just went back on his way towards the pub. It took a few seconds for Yugi to register he should follow him and he jogged up right next to him. “By the way, how did you know who I was the other night?” Yugi asked both out of curiosity and out of want to strike up a conversation with the other.

Atem quickly glanced his way before straightening his gaze back on the road ahead. “Everyone knows who you are, Yugi.”

“Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense,” Yugi replied matter-of-factly.

They walked around the corner and moved onto the next street, where the pub was situated at the end. Yugi’s question was burning on the tip of his tongue, and he kept hesitating before finally voicing it. “Those songs you played at the pub, did you write them?”

Atem hoisted the tool bag over his shoulder in a more comfortable hold from its heaviness. “Yeah, I only sing what I write.”

Yugi’s sudden need to know more about the other took over and he continued. “How long have you been doing that?”

Atem did not even glance his way as he kept answering without any apparent interest in the conversation, but he answered none the less. “A good couple of years, I guess.”

“Then how come this is the first time I’ve been able to witness it?” Yugi wondered, trying to catch a glimpse of the other’s crimson eyes.

Atem noticed his motion and finally offered him his gaze. “It’s not like I advertise it.”

Yugi was happy that the other was physically acknowledging his presence into their conversation and smiled. “Why not?”

Atem stopped walking, still looking at him sideways. He readjusted the bag on his shoulder, out of nervousness Yugi noted. He took a deep breath before replying. “I like singing. I don’t… like the attention.”

Yugi, who had also paused next to him, raised his eyebrows in surprise. “So you’ve never sang in front of anyone before that?”

Atem angled his eyes away from the other. There was no sign of embarrassment on his face, but his movement transpired his slight reticence. “I never said that.”

Yugi just could not stop himself for popping questions at that point. “Before you moved here then? Why?”

And there it was again, that tiny smile on the corner of Atem’s lips that had appeared when he sang last week. “Bigger cities make it easier to blend in and just go back to real life afterwards.”

They started walking again, and Yugi left it at that, just basking in the happiness that smile had lit up in him.

***

Mai was already back when they arrived. Atem had made quicker work of that sink than Yugi had even thought possible. He then refused to be paid, except for the pieces he had actually replaced, so Yugi insisted of gifting him a meal and a drink on the house. He set his order at the bar where the other was patiently waiting, drinking a bottle of one of the few imported beers they did not carry on tap at the pub. Yugi went to drop a few orders around and then came back to him. There was a part of him that wanted to converse with the other again. He had genuinely enjoyed it even if it had been brief, and he decided to just go and dive in.

“You don’t talk much, huh?” he said, eyeing the other quizzically.

Atem took a bite from a fry and turned his gaze his way. “You ask a lot of questions.”

Yugi laughed lightly. “I just don’t understand. How can you look so comfortable on a stage and so out of place everywhere else?”

The bronzed man took a sip from his beer and set it back on the counter, the hand holding it playing with the peeling label. “Singing and talking are two different things. I’m okay with the first one, not so much with the second.”

Yugi was still looking at him with that piercing gaze as he stated the obvious. “But we’re talking right now.”

Atem’s eyes moved away from the other’s inquisitive eyes and played idly with the food on his plate. “I know. I just don’t understand the need for… small talk.”

Yugi chuckled again, and Atem’s eyes were back on him, a small glint into them that was not there a moment ago. “So you basically… don’t like to talk?”

Atem rolled his eyes, a slight motion that Yugi found quite endearing on the other man. “It’s not that I don’t like it. I’m just not good at it.”

“I could help you practice if you want,” the bartender offered with all the honesty he could muster.

From the other side of the bar countertop, Atem leaned on his elbows, looking quite dumbfounded. “Why would I want to practice talking about the weather or Miss’s Fairwell’s morning walks to the market?”

Yugi snickered at the question. “I’m not saying you should, just saying you could.”

The man in front of him tilted his head to the side. “I would rather have meaningful conversations, no?”

The comment made Yugi want to smile brightly again and he came to rest his forearms on the counter right across the other. “Small talk is a gateway to meaningful conversation. You don’t expect people to talk to you about deeper aspects of themselves just like that, do you?”

“Well, I don’t usually expect people to talk to me in general,” Atem responded so casually it made Yugi’s eyes bulge.

“You’re kidding, right?” he almost stuttered out. “People talk to each other, that’s basic human instinct.”

Atem brought another fry to his mouth and sighed. “Alright, you may have a point.”

Yugi just eyed him for a few seconds as the other took a few bites and a gulp from his drink, and just like that, he reflected upon what had just happened between them. And he could not help the smile that graced his lips automatically.

“And we just made small talk. See. Not that hard,” he joked with a wink before heading back to a patron that waved his way.

When Yugi watched Atem leave his place at the bar while he was working around the pub, a part of him hoped that the other would not just up and leave, like he did after his set. It seemed in character for him, but he was one for hoping on the little moments in life. Atem picked up his tool bag next to him and headed towards the door and, right before opening it and stepping out, he turned around and scanned the room, his eyes meeting Yugi’s. And he waved, a small courteous gesture. The skip in the bartender’s heart was all too real, even if he could not really explain it.

***

It was the tiny changes that Yugi noticed, like how he would slow down by the hardware store when walking, checking if Atem was in. If he was, he would softly knock on the store’s window front and give a short wave when the other looked up outside. The first time he had done so, Atem had looked so surprised that Yugi was sure he would stay frozen in place. But his hand had appeared and waved back. The following time, there had also been a somewhat awkward smile with the wave to answer to Yugi’s bright morning one.

Atem had also made it to the pub on Friday, even if he had not scheduled a slot on the performers’ list. He had sat at the bar and ordered the same beer he had drank with his meal the last time and sipped on it, listening to the artists on stage that night. Yugi caught himself watching him a few times, just observing his calm and peaceful expression, as he seemed to genuinely enjoy the music. He had not disturb him and had kept his talking to a minimum because the bar had also been packed, and he had been running most of the evening. When the performances were over, Atem had left like last time, but there was also a tiny change there too.

He had waited. Waited for Yugi’s eyes to find him close to the door, almost lost in the other customers leaving. And waved.

***

“I didn’t know if you drank coffee or what you liked to eat really, so I brought you a slice of apple pie I made last night.”

Atem almost dropped the box he was handling, surprised by Yugi’s sudden appearance in the hardware store one morning the following week. He swiftly put it on the counter and turned around, wiping his hands on his jeans. “You brought me pie,” he stated, eyeing the plastic container in Yugi’s hands.

“Everybody eats pie, no?” Yugi countered, shoving the container his way.

He took it with a raised eyebrow. “Not for breakfast.”

Yugi suddenly felt shy and very self-conscious by his action. “You don’t have to eat it now…”

To his complete and utter surprise, Atem opened up the plastic box in his hands, picked up the piece of pie clumsily and brought it to his mouth. He took a small bite and put the slice back. He chewed on it for a couple of seconds and licked his finger where apple filling had spilled.

“It’s delicious,” he commented right after swallowing.

Yugi was still stuck on his previous expression, and he felt his face heat up from a mix of embarrassment, pride and happiness, all rushing through him at the same time. He swallowed, taking the few seconds it gave him to calm down and smiled gleefully at the store worker.

“Thanks, glad you like it.”

He knew not to push his luck too much so early in the day, so he walked back to the door and turned around right before leaving. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

Atem seemed to ponder on the question for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Yugi once again offered him a genuine smile. “Great. I really like your songs.”

Almost as if that was the magic word to say, Atem smiled back at him, a smile that reached his eyes and brought a soft twinkle in them. “Thanks.” Then, he took those eyes away as he set the plastic container with the slice of pie on top of the box he had been carrying when Yugi came in, and left for the back of the store.

Yugi thought about the fact that he would probably have to get used to his heart skipping beats whenever he was around Atem if things like that kept happening.

***

Mai told him to take a break and find a comfortable spot while Atem was on stage that Friday. She had seen how eager he had been all day long, and even mentioned a few times that he acted like a groupie. Yugi had retorted that he just knew how to appreciate good music when he heard it. She had rolled her eyes at him and laughed. He wondered if maybe he was acting stranger than he thought, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he settled for a seat right next to the bar so he could return to his work right after Atem’s set, who was again the last one of the evening.

Once again, Atem sang of beautiful simple things like he did the first time, his guitar placed on his lap, his eyes smiling as he shared his music with the patrons of the bar. Yugi felt the apprehension clench at his stomach after each song, afraid that it was suddenly going to end and Atem would just leave the bar right after. He did not know why he wanted the other to stay… or maybe he did know, but he did not want his mind to wander that way. Not now, not yet.

Too soon, Atem thanked the crowd and stood from his stool. Yugi thought and acted quickly and walked to the bar of the bar, and grabbed a beer bottle, the one he knew Atem liked. He briskly walked around the tables and caught up with Atem as he was putting his guitar back into its case and closing it.

“Hey,” Yugi said almost too fast.

Atem turned around at the sound of his voice, guitar in one hand and leather jacket in the other. He eyed the waiter and noticed the beer in his hand. He still had not opened his mouth.

“Stay?” the other asked, offering the still unopened beer to him.

The guitarist shrugged, but a small smile pulled at his lips as he shifted his jacket to his shoulder and took the beer in his now free hand. “Okay.”

That’s how it always was with him. Atem was the opposite of comfortable with casual conversation and it always surprised Yugi how much of a different person he was when he was in front of a microphone with a guitar in hand. It was like if music was Atem’s only easy way to communicate. But, these last few days, Yugi realised he would take both of these personas any day, both the easy-going songwriter with a voice laced with honey, and the socially awkward man with nervous smiles and the inability to make small talk even if his life depended on it.

Atem took a seat at the bar and Yugi went back to serving the customers around the pub, checking back a few times to make sure that he had not imagined that the other had actually accepted his invitation. Lady Luck must have somehow been on his side that night because customers soon started pouring out of the pub after the end of the performances, and he was able to go back to the bar and entertain a conversation with the musician.

“You look like the type of person who would own a dog,” Yugi opened with.

Atem simply raised an eyebrow at him and took a gulp of his beer. “What gave you that idea?”

Yugi swiped a rag on the counter to clean it up from previous customers. “I don’t know, I just think you’d be a great dog owner, that’s all.”

“Okay... What does that make you? A cat owner?” Atem replied, questioningly.

Yugi chuckled and threw the rag on his shoulder. “Oh God, no! I’m allergic to cats!”

“You are?” Atem replied, seemingly surprised by that fact.

Yugi sighed and poured himself a glass of water, adding a few ice cubes to it. “Yes, to my great misfortune. I think cats are just the cutest.”

Atem played with the label on his beer bottle and shrugged. “I think they’re overrated.”

The other took a long gulp of his refreshing drink and set it down on the bar. “Oh and why is that?”

The musician set his forearms on the bar and leaned a bit more forward. “They just think they’re better than you. My cousin has five of them, and all of them act like they own her place.”

This time, Yugi laughed even more clearly. He stopped and looked at the other with a smirk. “Wait, are we having a conversation about cats?”

Atem once again looked a bit surprised at such an obvious question. “Yes, why?”

Yugi went ahead and clinked his glass of water to Atem’s beer bottle. “I think you just leveled on small talk.”

The bronzed man brought the bottle to his lips and answered right before taking a sip. “Do I get a sticker?”

Yugi faked a shocked face and put a hand over his heart. “Atem Sennen, are you getting cheeky with me?”

The guitar player laughed, a sound Yugi had never heard before. It was so genuine and true it immediately made him smile and laugh with the other. In his peripheral, Yugi noticed Mai was back from the kitchen and standing at the bar, and on her face was a knowing smile. She mouthed a single word: _Groupie_. This time, Yugi did not deny it. _Maybe_ , he mouthed back.

But he knew it was not maybe. It was definitely.

***

Atem signed up for every Friday after that. Not that he would sing all new material all the time, some people asked him for encores of his previous performances. Yugi would happily leave a beer next to Atem’s guitar case towards the end of his set, and the musician would take a spot at the bar that soon became his usual one. Their conversations started becoming more casual, even if the bartender was mostly the one to initiate them or any question at all really. Sometimes, on rarer occasions, the musician would also come to the pub for a meal and a beer, never partaking in an event if it was happening while he was there.

Yugi also started stopping by the hardware more often, these occurrences becoming less surprising to Atem as they grew in numbers. He would bring food or black coffee (he had indeed learn that the other drank coffee and how he liked it) as an offering in exchange of a short conversation. He rejoiced in every smile the other gave him and he cherished those small exchanges between them that became more meaningful as time went by. Yugi felt lucky enough to be able to finally consider Atem as his friend, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

One morning, as he sat on the hardware store’s counter sipping on his own coffee, he decided to dive into a different topic, something that had been lingering in the back on his mind, somewhat worrying him.

“Did you ever think of leaving town?” he asked.

Atem, who had been swiping the floor, stopped and leaned on his broom. “Elaborate please.”

Yugi took a homemade cookie from a container he had also brought with him this morning and chewed off a bite. “I mean, you have talent. A lot. You could make it bigger than Friday nights at Valentine’s.”

The other rested his chin on the broom’s wooden tip. “Maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it, I guess.”

The bartender dipped his cookie into his coffee as he answered. “Well, I have.”

“And would you?” Atem asked, his gaze still on him.

Yugi suddenly felt very exposed and dropped his eyes to his coffee. “Yes, but not like LEAVE leave.”

“What do you mean?” he heard the handy man ask.

“I wouldn’t want to get too far, you know? Just drive away for a few hours, with the windows down and like, the sound of the wind blowing in the cornfields.” Yugi explained as he finished his cookie. “Yeah, just that would be enough.”

There was a short pause and Yugi raised his eyes again to see if the other was still there. Amethyst met crimson and Atem smiled. “I like that about you.”

“What?” the seated man inquired.

Atem chose this moment to go back to swiping the floor with precise broom strokes. “How you enjoy the little things so much,” he stated, with what Yugi thought he perceived as a hint of affection.

“What else is there to enjoy? If you skip on the little things, aren’t you just missing out?” Yugi replied, jumping down from the counter, his coffee still in hand.

The bell over the door dinged, signaling both the presence of a custome entering and Yugi’s time to make his exit. As he opened the door, he heard Atem’s comment. “I like that.”

He turned around and winked at him as he smiled. “You could write a song about it.”

“Maybe I will,” Atem said softly.

***

That Friday, after his set, as he sat at the bar drinking his beer, Atem engaged Yugi in a conversation for the first time. “I would like to answer that question again.”

Yugi, who was filling a couple of beer glasses on tap, looked at him briefly. “What question?”

“The one about leaving town.”

After he set the two now filled cups on a tray next to a basket of crisps, he turned to face him. “Yeah?”

“I don’t think I would,” Atem supplied his new answer.

Yugi taped the tip of his nose, pondering. “What made you come up with that answer?”

The other shrugged before replying. “Because it’s home.”

“But you’re not from here originally,” the bartender questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Atem once again turned to his habit of peeling the label of his empty beer bottle, something Yugi noticed the other did probably out of nervousness. “No, but this feels more like home than anywhere I’ve been.”

Yugi leaned against the counter, now even more curious. “Why is that?”

The musician dropped his gaze suddenly to the mouth of his beer bottle. “Because the people make it feel like home.”

And with that short little sentence, the bartender found himself at a loss of words. So, instead of filling the silence with words, he took another beer bottle from the fridge, uncapped it and set it in front of Atem, before leaving to deliver the contents of his tray.

It was also a very good way for him to hide the blush he was suddenly feeling on his cheeks, and it gave him time for it to subdue before he came back to the bar. He did not engage any further in a conversation with Atem, instead focusing on washing glasses and cleaning up a few things behind the counter. He did not even quite know why he just did not go back to talk to the other yet, he felt that their previous exchange had let something there, lingering on the surface, and he was not sure he wanted to dwell more on it. That last answer had left him feeling giddy like he had drank too much too quickly. His fingers were having trouble not shaking while he was drying off each glass carefully. As he lined them on the counter distractingly and started putting them back on the rack, he noticed that some of the ones he was replacing were still dirty and realised he had completely mixed up the clean and dirty ones while trying to keep up with his task on an unsettled mind. He mumbled a few curses under his breath.

“Everything okay?” he heard from behind him.

_“I wondered if this is what it feels like to have an acid trip…”_

“What?”

Yugi’s head snapped in Atem’s direction who was looking at him with raised eyebrows and wider eyes than usual.

“What what?” the bartender asked quickly.

“Did you just say you wanted to have an acid trip?” Atem pressed on every single one of his word in his question.

Yugi choked on his own saliva and coughed a few times to get his breath back in check. “Jesus, did I say that out loud?” he replied, his hand resting against his chest.

Atem put the beer he had been holding down on the coaster on the counter. “Never mind that. Why would you want to do that?”

Yugi sighed and eyed the bar for something, anything to occupy his nimble fingers and mind while he answered. “Okay, first, I believe what I thought out loud is if this is what it felt like to take acid…”

The musician, always straightforward in his line of questioning, pressed on. “What would made you feel that?”

Words then poured out of the waiter’s mouth like rapid vomit. “N-nothing. It was just something out the top of my head! Can we change the topic? This is making me feel uncomfortable!”

Immediately, he could see the change of emotion on Atem’s face and almost regretted his words. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll stop.”

Yugi watched as he seemed to retreat back into his own head, and he walked the few steps that separated them from either side of the bar. He braced his hands on the counter and looked straight at the other.

“No, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I just…” he started.

He did not know how to go on from there. He just did not want the other to stay on the emotion he was currently displaying across his face. So he did the next best thing and carefully laid one hand on Atem’s one settled on the wooden surface between them. Instantly, Atem’s eyes lifted up to his and something he could not quite place flashed across those beautiful crimson irises.

Yugi cleared his throat and pulled his hand away slowly. “You know, I don’t think doing any type of drug would be good for me.” He chuckled before adding: “I’m already quite a mess as it is.”

Atem blinked and the tension in the air seemed to finally lighten. “But you’re kind of a good mess, though,” he offered.

Once again, Yugi was glad the lighting in the bar was dimmed enough so he could hide the colouring of his cheeks in the shadows. He huffed and walked away from the other, returning to his bartending duties. “You’re getting a bit too good at this conversation thing.”

Atem laughed and Yugi smiled. The moment had passed, but the feeling lingered in Yugi.

***

Fall had crept up on them quietly, but Yugi welcomed the relief of summer heat with open arms… as well as Atem’s impressive flannel shirt collections, it seems.

Mai kept dropping hints over the next few days and poking Yugi about this friendship with Atem that seemed to be deepening faster than he expected. He supplied her with general remarks, but he knew she knew better than to trust his politically correct answers, but if he had to be completely honest with himself, he was at a complete loss right now.

All he had wanted was to make conversation with Atem, but now… what did he really want?

As he sat on the porch of the pub with a steaming mug of coffee in his hands, taking a well-deserved break after this Tuesday’s dinner rush, he kept circling the edge of his cup with his thumb, pondering that very question. The sun had set probably less than an hour ago and there was a light warmth lingering for the sunshine that had poured over them the whole day. Yugi might not have been a morning person, but he was certainly a dusk person, when day turned into evening and the world changed almost abruptly around them.

“Is your shift over already?”

The question came from his left and he did not have to turn that way to now who had just joined him on his break. Atem gently sat next to him on the porch, a take-out container from Anzu’s breakfast and lunch joint down the street in his hands.

“No,” Yugi replied with a smile. “Just enjoying the peace and quiet before I go back in.”

He smelled a lingering scent in the air and his eyes darted to the box in the other’s hands.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asked.

Atem laid the box between them and opened it, revealing a good dozen of fried beignets covered in cinnamon sugar.

“Yes. Go ahead, help yourself,” he offered, pushing the box a little bit closer to Yugi.

Yugi plunged into them, a delighted squeal leaving his mouth. Anzu was famous for her beignets, and Yugi loved them as much as anybody else in this town, but he did not indulge in them as often as he would like. Maybe that was also a good thing. He sighed as he took a bite of the sweet puff and closed his eyes for a quick second, savouring the mix of greasy and spicy taste. Atem chuckled at his reaction.

“I’m guessing this is one of those little things, huh?” he inquired.

“Yeah, like a big little thing,” Yugi said, giggling.

Atem took a beignet from the box and popped it completely into his mouth, chewing it slowly. Yugi looked at his calm face from the side and took a sip of his coffee, the cinnamon mixing with the dark roast of his beverage. “Your turn,” he declared.

“My turn to what?” the other replied, now looking back at him, still swallowing his beignet.

Yugi angled his body towards the other, resting his mug on his thigh, hands still cradling it. “Tell me about the little things you enjoy.”

Atem opened his eyes a bit wider, his eyebrows raising slightly. “Just like that?”

“Yes, go, now! Off the top of your head!” the bartender encouraged.

The musician took a few seconds to rearrange his body so that his back was now resting against the pillar holding both the banister and the little roof over their heads. “Okay, well, obviously music,” he started.

Yugi nodded, not wanting to pressure the other into answering too quickly. “Alright, work from that now.”

Atem pondered for another few seconds and continued. “Finding a new harmony. The sound of a pen on paper when I write down lyrics. My favourite pen.”

“You have a favourite pen?” Yugi smiled at that comment.

The singer offered a smile back casually. “I do. It’s not very impressive, but it’s trusty.”

Yugi’s eyes lit up brightly. “Who cares what it looks like? It’s your favourite. It’s your little things, not someone else’s.”

Atem’s smile reached his eyes, bringing a soft glow to the already warm scarlet irises. There was a short pause and then he spoke up again.

“Finding out miraculously that my headphones are not tangled when I reach for them.”

Yugi whistled proudly. “Oh, that is a nice one.”

They exchanged a few other ones, Yugi trading his answers for more little snippets into Atem’s train of thoughts. It was funny how easy their exchange could seem to any outsider and how a few weeks ago, they would have never ventured into such a personal territory in terms of conversation. Yugi was just thinking about that fact, a rush of feeling pooling in his chest, when Atem said it.

“That beer.”

Yugi was not sure he had understood correctly. “What beer?”

Atem’s eyes were fixated on his, the glow still very much present in them, as he shared his line. “The one you always have ready for me after my set. The one you leave on the table right next to my guitar case. That’s one of my little things.”

That was the moment Yugi knew the answer to the question that had plagued his mind for the past couple of days.

What did he want?

More.

So much more.

***

“Fuck…” Yugi said and he lightly hit his forehead repeatedly on the wooden counter of the bar.

“Swearing is not a good look for you, honey,” Mai honestly stated as she sat on the stool next to him, setting her lunch and drink next to her.

Yugi had come back inside yesterday after his break and beignet sharing sequence with Atem and he had been a hot mess of happiness, giddiness, nervousness, confusion and frustration, all thrown carelessly in a brewing pot waiting to spill. Mai had not pried, and the rest of the evening had been calm enough for her to handle most of the customers as Yugi had trouble just standing straight and serving a simple beer.

But today, she wanted answers about his behaviour or, as she previously threatened, she would send his ass back home until he was able to act like a decent human being and not break anything else in the bar. She did not want to pass another order of new beer glasses, especially after seeing that he broke 3 just last night…

Yugi, with his head resting on the wooden surface, just angled his face towards Mai, his eyes a huge mix of various emotions that he could not get to settle. “I like him.”

“That’s the understatement of the century. But the real thing is what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Like really. If I do anything, I’ll probably scare him away to another country,” Yugi whined. “I’ll just bottle up all these things, throw away the bottle in a very deep well, and get on with my life.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s how feelings work, dear,” Mai replied as she took a bite of her burger.

Yugi sighed and stole a fry from her plate, barely munching on it as he said “I know, I just wish they did…”

Mai looked at him quietly for a few seconds. She took a sip of water and swallowed. “I don’t mean to add oil to the fire, but you do know that the pub is in no way a pit stop between the hardware store and his place, right? He basically came by to probably see you yesterday. And he brought beignets on top of that.”

Yugi blinked at her and could not restrain the heat from climbing onto his face, colouring his cheeks a bright pink. “Why are you torturing me like that?”

Mai chuckled, her attention still focused on her plate. “I’m not. Okay, maybe a little, but I’m mostly stating a fact.”

Yugi sighed very audibly again and lifted his head to lean it into his hand, elbow resting on the counter. “How did I let that happen…?”

The bar owner pushed the plate towards the waiter, fries still warm offered as comfort. “If you ask me, I’m not that surprised. I’m more surprised by the fact that you actually did not realise it before.”

Yugi accepted said food and dipped a fry in the ketchup already on the plate. “It’s called denial, Mai. I’ve been practicing it.”

The blonde woman stood up and downed the last sips of her glass of water. “Glad we agree on that.”

The short man watched as she rounded the bar and prepped a few things for the dinner rush right around the corner. “So that’s the only pep talk I get?” he asked.

Once again, the woman chuckled and turned his way with a devious smile. “Oh honey, you don’t need a pep talk. You need a truckload of cement to be poured on both of you so you can stop ignoring this and do something about it.”

Yugi could not help but laugh at her analogy. “That’s a bit over the top, no?”

Mai shrugged casually, that smirk still on the corner of her lips. “What can I say? I love big grand gestures.”

***

Atem had been very busy the past few days, he explained as he sipped on his drink of choice, seated at the bar. They had not really been able to chat with one another for the last 5 days and it had given Yugi time to calm his racing mind and to focus on the positive aspects of his friendship with Atem, and how he did not want to jeopardize it. At least, no yet. The bar had been packed even for a Tuesday, due to a sporting event played on the large TV screen, in front of which most of the patrons had gathered. Cleaning up after these events was the least favourite part of Yugi’s job, but right now, the fact that Atem had offered to stay and help with it suddenly made it seem like a good thing.

As the last customer cleared the place, Yugi locked behind them to get started. He turned on the brighter lights and set to pick up the few glasses still on random tables. He had been able to start cleaning up before everyone had left, which was already making the closing an easier task. Atem had reached for the chairs and started putting them up on the tables, clearing the floor for a quick moping afterwards. Between the two of them, they were done faster than expected and Yugi offered the musician one last drink before they left. He hesitated, but politely refused when he looked at his watch for the time.

“Do you need me to walk you home?”

Yugi whirled around like he had been slapped. Did Atem just offer to…?

“I’m not that defenseless, you know,” he replied, not quite sure if he should be flattered or offended.

Illuminated now only by the lights of the lamppost outside since they had closed the lights inside, Yugi was not quite sure if he saw a flush of embarrassment on Atem’s cheeks. “That is not what I was implying,” the musician said.

The bartender rolled his eyes playfully. “Just kidding. Come on, I think I hear my bed calling me.”

He wrapped a knitted scarf around his neck, plopped a beanie on his hair, and watched as Atem did the same. He was about to step outside when an arm blocked his way and he recanted. Atem looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s pouring outside,” he stated. “Where’s your jacket?”

Yugi tilted his head to be able to look outside, and noticed that it was in fact raining. Not that hard, but still, the autumn rain had already watered the ground enough to make it slightly slippery. He looked down at his flannel, half covered by a down sleeveless vest, effectively cutting it on the cold factor, but not the wet one.

“It’s only a little rain. Never killed anybody,” he answered as he shrugged.

Atem rolled his eyes at him, surprising Yugi with the out of character gesture. “That’s a pretty dramatic way to put it.”

They both walked outside the pub and, as Yugi was locking behind them, Atem took off his leather jacket and held it over both their heads, creating a makeshift umbrella.

The bartender felt his heartbeat rapidly increasing at the closeness between them and struggled to find his words for a second. “What are you doing?”

Atem simply smiled and motioned towards the street with his head. “Come on, let’s go.”

Again, it was not a command or an order, just a straightforward invitation, bringing Yugi back to that time he had fetched Atem from the hardware store to repair their sink. Only this time, the other was waiting for him instead of leading the way expecting Yugi to just follow him. So Yugi accepted the offer and stood under the jacket as they started walking down the street towards his own place, not too far from there. At first, they were both quiet and Yugi found himself enjoying this, paired with the soft splattering sound from the rain and the fact that cars and people were mostly dormant at this time of night.

Atem broke the peaceful silence between them. “I’m working on a new song for Friday.”

“Really?” Yugi replied with glee. “I can’t wait to hear it!”

The musician chuckled lightly, the sound ringing like soft bells in Yugi’s ears. “It is still pretty raw right now though.”

Yugi twisted his eyes his way, smiling for ear to ear. “Care to share what it’s about?”

The other shrugged, the movement shifting the coat protecting their heads and freeing a few drops of rainwater that landed on the shoulders. “You know. The little things.”

Yugi stopped dead in his tracks so suddenly that Atem had already walked a few steps away from him when he noticed that other was now standing in the rain away from the protection of their shared jacket. He turned around quickly and stared at the other.

“Yugi?”

The barely shorter man just stared at the guitarist and watched as he closed back the distance between them. His own clothes were now starting to get wet from the constant drizzle around them, but he could barely focus on anything other than those gorgeous crimson eyes boring into his at this point. Once again, Yugi was hit right into the feelings by a rush of all the famous little things.

Those awkward smiles.

Those waves by the door of the pub.

Those short morning greetings and talks.

Those damned flannel shirts.

Those shared sweets, and coffees, and beers.

Those fingers strumming a guitar like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Those words softly sung, each one with as much meaning as the other.

Those conversations that were not so difficult anymore.

Those moments when Yugi’s heart would skip entire beats.

Like this one.

Yugi had not realised he had closed his eyes until he opened them again. Nor had he realised that he had grabbed the front of Atem’s shirt and pulled him down to make their lips meet in a chaste and delicate kiss. His fingers were still curled around the shirt’s material when he finally registered what he had just done.

He immediately let go of the other and stepped back. He brought his fingers to his lips and just stared as Atem stood there, like completely frozen in time, the jacket now dropped to the ground, laying in the mud right in the middle of the sidewalk. Yugi could have tried to read the flow of emotions fleeting on the other’ face, but he did not.

Instead, he promptly turned around and ran.

***

When Mai opened up the pub at around 10 the next morning, she immediately knew something was off as she noticed the light in the back office was still on. Yugi was not one to simply forget these kind of details. She walked right into the office and she did a double take.

“Jesus Christ, Yugi, you look like shit.”

Said person was sitting on the floor, his back to the pull-out bed couch in the room, shoes thrown carelessly next to him as well as beanie, scarf and vest tossed aside on the armrest of the couch. His hair spiked in all the wrong directions and his shirt was more than wrinkled. Under his eyes were bags of sleepiness.

When he did not provide a reaction, Mai pressed on. “Did you sleep here?”

“I kissed him.”

It was such a tiny whisper that Mai thought she heard wrong at first. She then took a seat next to him on the floor, pushing a few blond bangs away from his eyes.

“What happened to doing nothing?” she replied.

Yugi took a deep breath, seemingly awakening his mind and spurted the next words at a speed he did not think he could manage in his state. “It was a spur of the moment thing! I didn’t even think about it! And now I’m thinking about it. Too much. Like way too much.”

Mai nodded and scooted a bit closer to him. “Okay, so what did he say?”

The man buried his head in his hands in shame, resting it on his knees. “I don’t know.”

The blonde frowned and paused. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

She could barely hear his response mumbled through his knees. “I… ran out of there.”

Mai’s eyes budged as she leaned out of her seated position. “You did what?”

“I told, I wasn’t thinking!”

Yugi finally lifted his head to look at her, and his eyes were filled with both panic and sorrow, and it immediately made Mai want to hug him. Yugi must have been the sweetest person on Earth and seeing him in this state nearly broke her heart. She pulled Yugi against her, pushing his head to rest on her shoulder with a comforting hand. “Oh honey, you’re such a wreck.”

“Another great pep talk, boss,” he muttered as a few tears escaped as they had been trying to all night.

Mai had sent him home after that, strongly suggesting a combination of a hot shower, a huge pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, a warm blanket and a Netflix cheesy comedy marathon for him to indulge on his newly acquired day off. He had avoided the hardware on his way home and only stopped at the corner store for that pint of ice cream, not risking the chance of running into more people than he needed to… especially the one.

He did not quite know how he managed to get through the day, but he did. The next morning, he could not stop himself from glancing up the window of the store where Atem worked. He did not know what he was expecting from this, but he was surprised to see that Solomon, the hardware store owner, seemed to be completely alone, brooming away some fallen leaves in front of the door. His curiosity got the better of him and he walked towards him.

“Hey Solomon, how are things going?” he greeted the older man.

The owner stopped what he was working on to smile at the young man. “Oh, hey Yugi! Here to see Atem, I presume?”

Yugi tried to hide the slight pang of hurt in his chest by scratching his neck nervously. “Ah no, not really, just wanted to say hi on my way to work.”

Solomon nodded and kept sweeping. “Oh good for that, because he’s not in today.”

Yugi did not know what to think of this new information. “Really?”

The older man stopped his cleaning and rested the broom against his hip. “Actually, he asked for a few days off and since he’s been such a good asset, I’ve granted them to him. I’ve asked Honda to cover for him until then.”

The bartender blinked a couple of times, and felt some guilt settling at the bottom of his stomach. Had he really went as far as to make the other hide away? “Oh. Good for him then.”

He waved the owner goodbye and continued on his way to the pub, completely distracted. He felt torn between the good common sense of leaving a distance between him and Atem, since he had probably just ruined their friendship, and the need to know the other was okay, not hurt or sick or anything. Maybe, just maybe, he could ask Mai to check up on him and she would surely understand with the circumstances and all.

He settled in front of his laptop as soon as he arrived at the pub, burying himself into work to not think about the mess in his personal life at the moment. He even started pilling up the documents they needed to do their monthly billings, something he usually hated with a passion and waited until the very last moment to do. When customers started coming in, he busied himself helping out in the kitchen to prep for the dinner rush when he saw that Mai and the other waiter could easily deal with the few patrons they had at the moment. He loved learning a few tricks from the cooks here and there, and right now, he needed the distraction and Mai was gladly letting him have it.

When he came out from the kitchen to take his rightful spot behind the bar a few hours later, Mai was speaking on the phone, but her facial expression led him to believe something was… odd with the phone call. When she hung up, she turned around on her heels, facing him.

“What?” he asked.

“Well, that was interesting,” she said cryptically.

“What?” Yugi repeated.

“That was Atem calling to make sure his name was on the set list for Friday’s open mic.”

Yugi almost dropped the beer glass he was holding, but caught it just in time. “What do you mean?”

She simply went back to putting the set list back into a cardboard folder and replaced it with the other folders next to the register. “Please try not to break anymore glasses, honey.”

“Mai!” he pleaded.

She smiled as she flipped her gaze back his way. “It means you have two days to mentally prepare yourself to see him again. So get to work, lover boy.”

***

He stared at the date on his phone as if it would suddenly and magically change. The past two days were a complete blur and now, Friday had rolled around way too quickly for his nerves. Just to make him even more nervous, he had gotten an early text message from Mai, simply stating that if he dared to call off today, he was fired.

He took a breath, telling himself for the hundredth time that he needed to treat this as any other day, any other Friday.

Still…

He choose his favourite flannel, a mix of eggplant and navy, paired it with the most flattering jeans he owned and his nicest pair of boots. He even dared to add a few thin leather bracelets and a black choker he wore from time to time when he felt like dressing up. He spiked his hair in its signature look. He looked at himself in the mirror for long minutes, noticing how his lavender eyes were filled with apprehension that he could not even try to hide. Mai had been nice enough to let him come in later today, but he could not push his arrival any later, so he grabbed his keys, scarf and jacket and left for the pub.

Dinner customers arrived early, like they did most Friday, before the crowd coming for the open mic filtered through and settled mostly on the tables surrounding the small stage. Orders of snacks and drinks were pilling up quickly, but the cooks had been ready and the evening was going smoothly so far. Once she got the chance to actually talk to him, Mai had complimented Yugi on his look, telling him he had done good. He had blushed and thanked her, and she had given back a thumbs up.

There were only four artists coming up on stage tonight, and Atem had once again reserved the last spot. The three first musicians had already arrived and set their gear next to the platform in the corner of the bar. Yugi kept glancing at the door, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest whenever it opened. He shook his head to clear his mind and focused on preparing the couple of drinks he had on his order pad. He walked around, handing out the different glasses and cups and went back to the bar.

As luck would have it, he had been distracted enough the whole evening that he did not notice another man coming in his peripheral right before crashing into him. The empty tray fell from his hands to the ground with a light clatter and he immediately bent down to pick it up. “God, I’m so sorry, I’m so clumsy tonight!”

“Are you not always a little bit clumsy?”

Yugi almost dropped the tray again, but he managed to hold it closely to his chest as he rose up and his amethyst eyes met with scarlet ones. He was not breathing, he knew it, but he could not get his lungs to function normally at the moment. Atem was finally in front of him, wearing a black and red flannel, one of Yugi’s favourites of his, under his leather jacket, a black beanie still perched on his hair and his guitar case strapped to his back. His legs were wrapped in black jeans and boots loosely laced covered his feet, but all of that took a backseat to the small smile gracing his lips.

“Hi,” was all he said and it felt like an arrow shot straight to Yugi’s heart.

“Hi,” he managed back.

There was an awkward pause that was way too long as both just stared at each other, and eventually, Atem broke their eye contact and coughed. “I’ll go get ready.”

At that point, the only thing Yugi could do was nod in response and the other just walked past him towards the performance area. As he did, he slipped off his beanie and Yugi was so delighted to see that he had pulled up his hair in a ponytail that he felt his knees turn to jelly. Did Atem always look this good? Probably, but tonight, Yugi’s nerves just could not take it all in. He trotted back to the bar and worked on evening his breath. Mai slipped him a tall glass of water from his left. “You gotta calm yourself down, he is not even on stage yet, dear.”

“Don’t remind me!” Yugi glared at her as he downed a good couple of gulps from the glass.

The first performer went on a few minutes after that, but Yugi barely paid any attention to anyone else than Atem, currently seated on a stool, leaning against the wall, watching the other artists perform. Not once did he glance his way, or maybe he did when Yugi filled up a few orders in between the short shows. When it was finally time for the country boy on his mind to get on stage, Mai took Yugi’s hand and walked around the bar with him, and pulled him forcefully on one of the stools.

“Now, sit, stop fidgeting and enjoy. I can’t have you break stuff or anything, you’re no use in this state,” she stated as she sat him down and then took a seat next to him.

A customer made his way towards them and she glared at him so intensively that he turned around to go back to his place immediately. As he watched the events happening almost in slow motion, Yugi remembered the first time Atem had set foot on that stage and opened his mouth to sing with a voice that had set him down this whirlwind spiral of emotions. Once again, he observed as the musician carefully plugged his guitar and set himself on the stool. This time, he used a few words of introduction like he had done the past few weeks. He was greeted by a few whistles and applauds, people now pretty used to his presence of those Friday evenings.

Yugi let himself be lulled by that voice he had missed more than he knew for the past few days. Atem had chosen some of his previous songs, most of them favourites from the crowd and one in particular that Yugi loved deeply. When Yugi was sure Atem was close to ending his set, he almost jumped down from his stool, but a nervous chuckle into the microphone stopped him.

“So this is pretty new, so yeah.”

Strings were pinched delicately as a melody Yugi had not heard before made its way to his ears.

_The lights came on_

_They put the chairs on the tables_

_You said another drink_

_As I peeled off the label_

_Well it was soaking wet_

_So I gave you my jacket_

_You were closing in_

_Like a fool, I reacted_

His eyes went wide and his breath hitched in his throat. Was this really happening? The chorus came and Yugi’s heartbeats matched the notes as he felt his mouth run dry. There was a pause in the lyrics that allowed him to gulp down some air before another verse came around.

_We stayed up late_

_We were talking for hours_

_About your allergies_

_And that you wanna try acid_

_We said it all_

_We ran out of surface_

_Well it's so quiet now_

_Can you tell that I'm nervous?_

“Well, if that ain’t him serenading you, I don’t know what love is supposed to look like,” came Mai soft whisper right into his ear, the smile dripping from her voice.

Yugi did not know what to reply and deeply wished right now that Atem would just raise his eyes and meet his, because he felt like drowning and the only anchor he could think of to settle his swaying was those crimson irises. He stood up from his stool and took a few steps towards the stage, ignoring anything but this transcending moment happening right now.

And Atem answered his prayers and found his eyes.

_I guess I'm gonna be the first one to say it_

_What if I told ya_

_I got a little too honest?_

_What if I stumbled on three words and made a promise?_

_'Cause there's a fire between us_

_And it's too late to stop it_

_'Cause you and I are tangled up_

_Like headphones in my pocket_

Background noises became like an eerie silence, and there was no one else in the bar, but this gorgeous individual looking straight at him and singing about them. They were so far away, but that did not matter because the words Atem was saying felt like being said right into his whole being.

Well damn.

So this was what love felt like when it was just right?

The sound of applause jerked him back to reality and it felt almost treacherous to be brought back so promptly. There was a hand on the small of his back and a voice in his ear once again. “You got a fifteen minute break, than you have to wait until closing time,” Mai said as she took her spot behind the bar.

Yugi did not need to be told twice and he almost jogged to the stage, a giddiness in his step and nervousness pouring for his skin. Atem was already putting his guitar back into its case as he closed in on him. Yugi decided he needed to act first and think after for once. He knew Atem did not like being the center of attention, so he had to act on his behalf also. He grabbed the other’s hand into his.

The musician quickly turned his way and his eyes went wide. Yugi pulled him along without looking back as they made it to the back door of the bar, and he pushed it open, taking them both outside in the cool autumn evening. The bartender barely had time to turn around and open his mouth to say something that Atem caught his face with warm hands and connected their lips. Yugi immediately responded, closing his eyes and grabbing the front of Atem’s shirt, pulling them closer together. With all that fervour, Yugi thought for sure the kiss would turn into a mess of lips, tongues and teeth, but it did not. It was slow and languorous, and Atem was coaxing his mouth open so they could deepen it even more. He let go of his face and let his hands wonder down before setting on the back on his thighs and lifting him up. Yugi yelped, his hands instinctively going around the others shoulders for balance, and he wrapped his legs around Atem’s hips. Gently, the musician pushed him againt the wall to support them both and Yugi moaned softly as Atem claimed his lips once more.

Yugi had to remind himself he only had fifteen minutes.

The kiss slowed down and he rested his forehead on the other’s, a bright and goofy smile lighting up his face, mirrored by Atem.

“Stay?” he whispered.

“Yes,” was his answer.

Atem let go of him and they walked back into the bar, his hand squeezing Yugi’s once last time before he went on to grab his things and take his usual spot at the bar where the bartender had already opened up a beer for him.

As every Friday, the rest of the evening was more quiet and less busy after the performances and Mai had tended to the few patrons still seated, leaving Yugi to man the bar, giving him plenty of time to send cute glances Atem’s way and to giggle happily as the musician returned them.

When the last customer left, Yugi poured himself a drink and took the stool next to Atem. His hand went to the fingers drumming on the wooden surface of the bar. The guitarist’s other hand was absent-mindedly peeling the label off the beer bottle as he turned his palm up and laced their fingers together.

Yugi sighed happily and just looked into the anchoring eyes of his favourite person.

And this right here, right now, was the closest to heaven Yugi could ever expect to feel.

Because heaven was in the little things.

**Author's Note:**

> Ontario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt5kk44fCJc  
> Headphones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWLP_glBAuA  
> Find me on Tumblr: https://xauroraxborealisx.tumblr.com/


End file.
